Nigeria is in dire straits. The country is faced with humongous challenges ranging from severe economic hardship to terrifying insecurity challenges. Every day, there is one tragic news or the other coming out from various parts of the country. And the Christian community has continued to pray ceaselessly, asking God to intervene and transform the country into a prosperous and better governed nation. But it appears God is not interested in Nigeria’s problems. Nothing has changed. Churches spring up on nearly every street in the country but nothing near a solution is in sight, Nigeria is overwhelmed by its own challenges. Many have even criticised Christians, asking why none of their ceaseless prayers and revivals have yielded any significant results.
The Prime Citizens publisher, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) got the founder of Celica Church of Christ Worldwide, Reverend (Dr) Adetunji Adeonigbagbe to share with us his thoughts on this subject. The globally recognised spiritual leader and father, who has garnered invaluable amount of experience and spiritual knowledge over the years offered deep insights as to why it appears the prayers by Christians are not being answered by God. He also explained why it is important for every pastor, prophet, founder of a church, to have a mentor, a spiritual father that people can connect him to. Enjoy excerpts of the interview.
Some people have also
said that one of the things they look out for when searching for a good church
with a true man of God is the antecedent of the pastor. They ask questions such
as, who is the pastor’s spiritual father? Who are his mentors? Under whose
tutelage did he learn? Was he a strong
CAC member, a strong Anglican or Baptist or a devout Celestial church member? For
some people, once the pastor’s background doesn’t align with their expectations,
then they believe they need to be careful, meaning he has a big question mark
hanging over his head as regards the genuineness of his spirituality, do you
agree with this position, sir?
I agree with that position completely. I agree with it totally and you know why? There’s no prophet in the Bible that did not serve under another prophet. Look at Samuel, he served under Eli. Look at Elisha, he served under Elijah. Let’s come back to our own time now. Look at Moses Orimolade Tunolase, many may not have known he served under someone as well. But he actually did because he was going to a particular church every night to play drums for them. Though he had a call from God but he knew he still needed a tutor, a mentor. He still needed somebody to guide him.
Look at Ayo Babalola, he was in the Apostolic church before CAC was born. He learnt from the Apostolic church while Samuel Bilewu Oshoffa learnt from the Methodist and Catholic. He even lived with a Reverend Father before he was called. You must pass through a church or somebody. So, any man of God that does not have a spiritual father or mentor or a church he was attending before, has a lot of questions to answer.
Yes, there are some people that may have been divinely born a prophet. Like me, for instance, my mother knew I was going to be a prophet even before I was born. A message came to my mother. She was told that she had been looking for a child for 18 years and God said ’I’m going to give you a boy and that you must not use any traditional herb or black content on him.’ That was the message, but I still needed a tutor and that’s why I went to the Anglican Church, from there to Cherubim and Seraphim, from there I went to the Apostolic Teachers Training College, Ilesa, where I learnt a whole lot. From there, I joined Celestial and learnt from Baba Oshoffa too, maybe not directly, but I learnt from people who served him and learnt from him as well. I also learnt from Moses Orimolade, though not from him directly but from his sons. Prophet Bada of Cherubim and Seraphim, I learnt from him also. So, anybody, especially in this generation, must pass through a mentor.
There’s this group pf
people who have openly criticised Christians for going to church everyday,
attending revivals and praying for Nigeria ceaselessly and yet, no results, no
solutions. Things have only gotten worse in the country. They wonder why
churches are springing up everywhere and yet, the hardship and the insecurity
situation country is not getting better, what is your take on this, sir?
The question you have asked is a very deep question. And it does not speak to the situation of things in the country alone but also to our individual and personal lives. There’s something one of my children sent to me yesterday about a conversation going on within the social media. The argument is that God knows whom he wants to favour and that it’s not everybody God will bless. So, they have been arguing back and forth about this. Let me address that issue first before responding directly to your question. Going to church to attend service and worship God is our duty and the primary foundation upon which we were created. All other things are secondary. Money, fame, power, wealth, every other thing is secondary, the primary reason God created us was to serve him and worship him and praise him. But some Christians now believe that going to church gives them the huge prospect of becoming rich. And it’s not the fault of these Christians, the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of we, the pastors, prophets and spiritual leaders who keep preaching prosperity to the congregation all the time. But the major thing God expects from us is to serve him with our body, soul and spirit because we were created to serve God and nobody else.
So, we didn’t lay that foundation for people to follow. The foundation we have laid is that when you serve God you become a millionaire, no, that’s not the primary reason for serving God. The main reason is because we were created in God’s image and we are expected to go to church to serve him. Back then, there were a lot of our spiritual fathers and leaders who were poor, there were those that could not have their own children, some others had different kinds of issues but that did not stop them from serving God. Their primary assignment was to serve God and that has not changed. Our primary assignment as Christians is to worship God. But that has been removed from Christendom, what we now preach is prosperity. You may ask for flower and God gives you rain. Now, without the rain, will the flower grow? No. These are the teachings we lack, not just as Christians but as a nation. If truth be told, we are not doing what God expects of us.
Let me tell you something, here in America, it’s not as if they are regular church goers themselves, no, they are not. But one way or the other, they are following the teachings of God. There are hundreds of NGOs to feed hungry, homeless citizens, is that not an example of what God wants us to do for each other? They have facilities that take care of the elderly in the society. They take them to the Old people’s homes, feed them, take good care of them and employ people who give them sound medical care, is that not part of what God teaches us? Those who are homeless are provided shelter, those who are sick, even without insurance the government still provides medical care for them, is that not what God expects from us?
But what do we have back in Nigeria? Even our Christian Association has become politicised. The leadership has lost focus and is more interested in making friends with the government when it should be independent and taking decisions that will positively affect Christians and the country at large. Instead, we hear of politicians rubbing their backs with money so they can alter results for them, and I’m wondering, why should you bribe me if truly you want to serve? It doesn’t make sense to me. But in a nutshell, that is the problem of Nigeria. That is what is wrong with Nigeria. Its not that God does not answer our prayers or that God is not with us, God is with us but we are not with him. These are two separate things – God is with us but we are not with him. We are distracted by other things. It’s like somebody that went to school but the school did not pass through him or her. That’s why, during elections in Nigeria, many of our academic professors are asked to come and be part of INEC officials with the hope that they will display integrity and professionalism which they were expected to have learnt in school. But what happens? They often fall short of expectations because many of them can’t refuse to bow to monetary inducements from politicians. In all honesty, I am not blaming anybody for this, because the system has since collapsed. It is not a problem created by this administration, I must make that clear, but the problem has become even worse now.
Christians must realise that most of our prayers these days are not primarily for God, they are basically prayers seeking our own personal gains, nothing more. And that is not how we should be showing appreciation to God. These are some of the reasons why it appears God is not answering our prayers, but he is, we only need to start appreciating the little things he does for us.
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